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Sunday, April 10, 2016

Well, the big showdown between Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy did not live up to expectations. In clear but extremely windy conditions, McIlroy's game was never right all day -- he struggled to a 5-over par 77. Spieth, on the other hand, fought the game all day with the tenacity of an old sea captain trying to make harbor in the midst of a gale. A double-bogey on 11 dropped him to 3-under par for the tournament, but he fought back with birdies on 12, 14, and 15 to build a four-shot lead with only three holes left. However, he then finished with a bogey on 17 and a double-bogey on 18 to give back almost all of that lead. Still, he leads the Masters for the seventh round in a row, after a day on which he made two double-bogeys on the back nine. I don't think that has ever happened in golf history, and I doubt if it will happen again.

Spieth will be paired with Smiley Kaufman, who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., but who played golf for LSU. I can't help but think that Bobby Jones would be pretty pleased to see two young Southerners in the last group at his old tournament. But right behind them are some of the best golfers in the world, including the 58-year-old Bernard Langer -- who was the defending champ with Jack Nicklaus won for the last time. Nicklaus was born in 1940. Spieth was born in 1993. What a funny old world.

On the second hole, Spieth spends a long time lining up an eagle putt that will have at least two different breaks on its long journey toward the hole. He finally looks like he's about to putt, and then steps back. Then rolls the ball to within a few feet. Very well done.

Just as Spieth is about to hit his fairway shot on 3, there is an enormous roar from somewhere on the course, and he is forced to reboot. Finally, he lofts a great shot to within about 15 feet of the flag.

Kaufman cannot control his shot from the pine straw, and the ball runs through the green.

And now we see what caused that roar -- which really was one of the loudest cheers I've ever heard at Augusta National. It was our old friend Davis Love III, who made a HOLE-IN-ONE on the 16th hole. He moves to 11 over par.

OK, I hate it when the announcers talk about things like pressure on Sunday at a major golf tournament or the importance of not committing turnovers in football games as though it's something some athlete or coach doesn't know to respect. I hate it.

For me, one of the biggest mysteries in all of sports is why no male golfers from Japan have won a major golf tournament. I thought Matsuyama had a good chance to end that streak, but he's fallen back to 1 over par, and he just missed the green with his tee shot on the par-3 sixth hole.

One of the reasons that Verne Lundquist is such a beloved figure is because his regard for humanity seems genuine and indiscriminate. In some announcers, you might hear them express empathy with some competitor who encounters some misfortune--but you can still kind of hear their happiness because they're actually rooting for another of the competitors. But when Verne Lundquist says, "Oh, what a price to pay!" on the way to a Hideki Matsuyama double bogey, you actually believe him.

Spieth is now a full hole behind all the other players, and he is still taking his time. A long discussion with his caddie from the 9th fairway. Then he changes clubs. Now he's ready. He lofts his shot right into a lovely spot, about 20 feet from the hole.

Wow! J.B. Holmes, who's going very well, lofts a lovely tee shot to within about 5 feet of the 16th hole. And then Louis Oosthuizen hits a shot that lands on the green, rolls down the hill, knocks Holmes's ball out of the way, AND GOES INTO THE CUP! That's a THIRD hole-in-one on 16 this afternoon. I don't remember ever seeing one there before.

Now here's Dustin Johnson looking at an eagle putt on 13. His putting hasn't been great today, but his shot-making has been glorious. This is about 20 feet, downhill. He leaves it just short, but taps in for a birdie to move to 2-under par.

There is always someone who goes into the water on 12 on Sunday. Today it was Jordan Spieth. His tee shot was never going to make it. The ball landed on the bank and bounced straight into the water. His lead will soon be gone.

I was wrong -- that was not Spieth's third shot on 12; it was his fifth. His third shot also went into the water, forcing him to take another penalty shot. He got up and down for a QUADRUPLE BOGEY SEVEN, and he falls THREE SHOTS BEHIND Danny Willett. What a disaster.

With Spieth now back at 1-under par, the tournament now belongs to two Englishment: Danny Willett and Lee Westwood. Willett cannot make birdie on 15, so he stays at 4-under par. But Westwood makes an EAGLE to move to 3-under par, only one shot behind.

On 15, Johnson whangs a drive that leaves him about where Willett was, some 220 yards from the hole behind some trees. But Johnson simply blasts the ball through or over all obstacles, and it lands on the green. He will have a decent chance at eagle.

But Willett has a 10-foot birdie putt on 16 that would just about lock down the championship, and he NAILS IT!. He has birdied 13, 14, and 16. He is 5-under par, and he has a two-shot lead over Westwood with two holes to play.

Meanwhile, Spieth's second shot on 13 bounds through the green, and he will have tricky up-and-down for birdie.

In America, Spieth's collapse will get most of the attention in the history books. And that is understandable. But Willett has played extremely well down the stretch, and he deserves to be in the lead.

On 17, Willett's second shot runs through the green, and he has a long chip for birdie. He makes a perfect shot, and he will have a tap-in for par. He has really played marvelously today. If he pars the last, he will finish with a 67.

Spieth hits a drive on 15 and, as the announcer puts it, "a one-handed follow through is not a good sign." It's not, and the ball drifts off to the edge of the fairways, blocked by trees from the green.

As for Johnson, his second shot on 17 goes into the bunker, effectively ending his challenge at this Masters.

So all Willett has to do now is put the ball on the 18th green. If he does that, he will almost certainly be the winner. From 167 yards, he lofts a 7-iron that is just perfect. He will have 18 feet for birdie, and he will win the 2015 Masters.

Willett probably doesn't need this birdie putt to win the tournament, but it would end his day in style. He lines it up, putts, and the ball comes up about a foot short. He will tap in for par, and a 67 that will leave him at 5-under.

Spieth lines up his tricky downhill putt on 16. Johnson and Day are walking up to the 18th green, and Spieth and Kaufman are the only other people on the course. Here we go. He hits the ball, and it is hit too hard. The ball doesn't break enough, and goes five feet past.

This, as they say, is the ball game. Spieth is out in the 17th fairway, trying to make a birdie. After the usual palaver with his caddie, he whacks at the ball and says immediately, "That's not even close to being there." He is right, as the ball lands in the same bunker that grabbed Dustin Johnson's ball. And that will do it for him.

Let's be honest: American golf fans will be heart-broken at Spieth's collapse around Amen Corner, and especially an inexplicable 7 on the 12th hole. But Willett came to 17 and 18 knowing that he was in the lead, and he played gloriously on both of them. He posted a 67 under extremely challenging conditions, and he deserves the title.

The other thing, too, is that Spieth is going to go 74-73-72/73 on his last three rounds this weekend. In retrospect, he was hanging on for dear life after Thursday, kept afloat by surges of excellent play (and the weather holding off any serious challenge until today).